


Somehow I got stuck

by columbine_and_asphodel (onlycrooks)



Series: The Innocent Bystander [10]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Dreams, Dubious Consent, M/M, Mentions of Cath, OMCs galore, Prostitution, Sadism, Sexual Identity, Steve in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-21
Updated: 2012-05-21
Packaged: 2017-11-05 18:50:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/409818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onlycrooks/pseuds/columbine_and_asphodel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve, Chin and Kono go to check out a suspicious domestic disturbance, but that's not what's happening at all. Oh, and Steve's arm gets broken. </p><p>Or: The FBI makes an appearance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Somehow I got stuck

**Author's Note:**

> Author's thought: Perhaps, once this is finished, I should make another story entitled The Innocent Bystander in which all of these separate parts are chapters.  
> Author's question: Good thought or bad thought?
> 
> Oh, and quickly, before it escapes me:  
> I love you all. I love you so, so much.  
> ...which is why I feel bad, aha. I really have been pressed for time, but I feel rude not replying. I _do_ read all your comments and take in your questions; they're these precious memory-treasures to which I turn when things get a bit bleak.
> 
> I apologize for the delay. My brain _really_ struggled with this chapter and didn't want to write it at all. In return, though, it's huge!

The call comes after three weeks of silence. It had unnerved Steve, how quiet the criminals became. There were no kidnappings, no murders or beatings. No one was threatened with blackmail; there weren't any threats of any sort, really. Even petty crime was nowhere to be found. Domestic disputes and crimes of passion were suspiciously absent, too. Everything was quiet and peaceful, which had Steve's senses prickling. It was as if the criminal world were holding its breath, waiting for something _big_ , something that would not only turn the tables but set fire to them and worship the blackened remains.

Eventually Steve's natural nervous energy makes it impossible for him to stay at HQ with Chin and Kono. He'd been helping them where he could, doing things that required little to intermediate knowledge of the mechanics of computers, though the tasks usually ended with him going over documents by hand. With each failure or frozen lead'd grown more restless. He'd always hated waiting, his time serving in the Navy no exception, and the fact that they had found plenty of rumors and shadowy whispers from people who could confirm their theories, there wasn't anything solid enough to, well, warrant a warrant.

The tension grows heavy enough that when he sneaks out- or tries to, at least, since he gets spotted- neither of his team members stops him, though they do look sad as they watch him go. Steve doesn't have to wonder long why. He knows that they miss Danny, that they hadn't been as regretful as he'd thought they'd be when Cath left; he also knows that they don't like him partnerless, running about with no one to restrain his radical tendencies. They'd both volunteered to partner up with him if he'd wanted to leave, but Steve hadn't wanted to break them apart. Almost all the near-breaks they'd had, had come from their work together, so the idea of splitting them up hadn't held any appeal.

As per the promise he'd made after Danny left, Steve goes for a run- cellphone in the runner's holster, just in case. He doesn't pay much attention to what's going on around him, just takes note of street names and people who might be threats.

He's so caught up in the dull sound of his footfalls that he almost doesn't notice his phone vibrating. Confused, he pulls it from the holster and frowns at the name on the screen: _Chin Ho._ Surely he hasn't been gone that long, or did something happen at HQ? Worried, he scrambles to answer the call before it goes to voicemail.

"McGarrett," he huffs.

"Steve, it's Chin. Where are you?"

"I'm... not entirely sure." Steve pauses, suddenly disoriented. He vaguely recognizes where he is, but he can't quite put a name on it... "No, wait... I'm at Danny's old apartment." He cringes as he says it. It's not that he came here on purpose, but the rundown place has become something of a reassurance for him. It reminds him of the time when things between Danny and him were all right, which gives him hope that maybe, maybe he can fix what he broke.

There's a small pause on the other end of the line before he gets a reply. Chin doesn't say anything outright, but Steve knows him well enough to know that it's because Chin's thinking, processing what he's just heard.

"A call just came in to HPD about a domestic disturbance," the older man begins, "but when they ran the address, all that came up was a closed down hotel. They figured it's just some kids messing around in there, but when I ran it, I got some message saying that that address no longer exists."

Steve takes a moment to figure out what Chin's not saying, but when he does, it's all he can do to not to throw his phone.

"That's the sort of thing the FBI does: make things disappear. Why a hotel, though? What could they have found there?"

"Steve," Chin says, voice conveying his discomfort, "I looked up the surrounding area, and that hotel, it's where Danny's been working."

* * *

Getting in isn't difficult; the only challenger is a guard who tries to keep them from entering a slightly too-ordinary door. Chin knocks him into a wall, the massive man's head knocking into it, and distracts him long enough that Kono can sneak up behind him and hit him with a potted plant. (How and where she got it aren't questions Steve cares to ponder.)

Past the door is a small semi-circle of people, three men and one woman, all with their backs to the door (careless mistake- analysts or theorists with no field experience, then) as they look at a section of wall covered by numerous screens, tutting and making quiet comments that Steve can't hear.

"Here already, Five-0?" asks the woman, her voice struggling to suppress an accent- German or Scandinavian, Steve guesses, or perhaps Austrian- and something about it sets off every alarm bell in his head.

Damn, but it's loud in there, now.

"You're FBI, right?" comes Chin's voice, taking over for Steve.

The woman nods, but the men around her look nervous, even as they continue to keep their eyes on the dark screens before them.

Out of the corner of his eye, Steve sees Chin draw a breath when the screens suddenly flashed a dull orange and were filled with the sight of a room, presumably somewhere in the hotel-brothel. Steve's eyes aren't drawn in by the room, though; they're captivated by multiple views of a blonde man dressed in black running shorts and a white wife-beater. He's paying such close attention to him that he almost doesn't see the other two men. The first is a pleasant-enough looking guy, handsome even, if weren't for the knowledge Steve has of him and his... tastes. The second man is better looking still, but there's a hard edge to him, a narrowing of the eyes and a hardening of the lips that mars it slightly. Something about him causes Steve's skin to prickle; it causes his muscles to tense, lizard brain slowly stirring, though he knows what his response will be. Any move towards the blonde man ("Danny!" his mind cries out, distressed by the presences of the man who'd hurt Danny before and the other, cold man) that looks even remotely dangerous and Steve will be there.

"Good, he got to it," comments on of the men as he leans forward and grabs a headset from beneath his chair. "I'd been beginning to wonder if really was as good as you claimed, Anja, but no, he's managed to flip both switches. We've got clear audio and good picture. We're ready."

"Anja?" The sound of the woman's name pulls Steve back into the room, though part of his gaze remains fixed on the screen that has the best view of Danny. "You're Aunt Anja?"

If his expectation had been surprise, he would have been wrong. The woman merely nods distractedly, staring at the screen.

"Yes, Lieutenant-Commander Steven McGarrett, I'm Aunt Anja- to Danny, at least. In here, I'm Agent Anja, which is how you'll be calling me, yes?" Her tone clearly states that this is a command, but Steve doesn't take offense. He knows how it feels to be so into the mission that manners fly out the window.

He does have some questions for her, though.

"What's Danny's involvement in this? He isn't FBI."

The German shakes her head sadly.

"No, he isn't. He has refused every offer I've made him, and I've made many. Daniel is a police officer, Mr. McGarrett, something that I think you may have forgotten. He may not work for you anymore, but he isn't one who can sit around and do nothing, especially when presented with the opportunity to do something good."

"What, being a prostitute?" Steve bites out, angry.

"No, being a... spy of sorts, or a lure, perhaps. He's always had a great ability to take great pain, both his and others', and continue forward, unaffected, so in answer to your question: no. No, he has not been a prostitute so much as a law enforcer who has been given an assignment with lots of sex."

"Sex that's going to kill him, you mean! I saw what happened when that other guy-" His brain cuts him off, because it's just processed what's going on in the room. There's Danny, pushed flat against the wall, his shorts around his knees, the side of his face squished into the white wall, his wrists held above his head, and there's the man Steve now remembers looking up and finding the name Kevin something-or-other, his pants open in the front, and-

It doesn't take a video expert to know that Danny's crying out in pain. He struggles and struggles, as if he thinks that he can somehow escape. Even if he were able to break Kevin's hold.

A hand on his shoulder startles him. When he turns to look at the person behind it, he sees Kono, her face full of agony. It looks frighteningly similar to Danny's, and Steve wonders if he looks the same way. A quick glance tells him that Chin's face is drawn and his eyes closed.

"You've got what you need," Kono says, her voice rough with unvoiced sadness. "Tell him to come out; he doesn't need to go one with this. You've definitely got enough... evidence for your case. Please... call him out."

In return, she gets three confused stares and one assessing one.

"That won't be happening," says one of the men- the closest.

"Why's that?" Chin asks as he comes to stand on Steve's other side, crossing his arms the way he does when he's feeling protective. It makes Steve's stomach flutter a little, seeing Chin- calm, reasonable Chin- come to Danny's defense.

"That man is... not quite irrelevant but certainly not the reason for this operation," answers a second man. "The man we want, however, is the one on the bed, waving that knife around. His name is Alfredo Bonano, and he's a political lobbyist and potential governor of New York, who happens to have connections with the mob, as well as ties to certain mafia families in Italy. He's been unsuccessfully tried before, however, and the resulting madness meant that he wound up looking good and NYPD like a bunch of corrupt fools- though he is half right. This time, if we don't get a huge amount of evidence to show his involvement, knowledge and depraved actions, we won't be able to win and will probably wind up getting sued for defamation of character and all the other, ridiculous things that man's lawyer's will tack on. This is a _federal agency_ taking on a single person. This _must_ be handled thoroughly. So, no, we aren't calling him out. He's the only person to have gotten this close to Bonano, so if he's gotten him this far, we have to consider the possibility that Mr. Williams will be able to draw him out completely."

This is more information from an agency than Steve has ever gotten, and it makes him nervous. The more information you have, the bigger the threat you present, and something like this, something that will, undoubtedly, rock the country, means that every bit of detail they've just received has made them bigger and bigger targets. This case is going to be high-profile, so there's no way that these agents are as foolish as they seem. They'll be at the extreme top of their fields, the absolute best in whatever it is the FBI feels is necessary- except bait. The FBI is huge, comprising a myriad of people, yet the only person they can use is Danny? That doesn't sit right, and it only takes him a moment to recognize why.

"You... you're the reason Danny's here, aren't you?" he asks, pointing at the German agent. "Danny speaking German even though he usually doesn't, the weird behavior lately. He's here because of you!" His hackles up and protective ire raised, Steve bolts away from Chin and Kono, eyes set on the impassive woman who'd sent Danny into that room, undoubtedly knowing what would happen to him.

His half-blind charge comes to a stop, though, when the third man rushes from his seat and knocks Steve to the side. When that fails to keep the former SEAL down, the man- who is revealed to be taller than Steve and broader than Chin- kneels on Steve's legs and pulls Steve's left arm behind his back with enough force that Steve can feel two distinct cracks in his forearm but doesn't cry out.

"Daniel mentioned working with someone rather headstrong, but he didn't say how passionate you are. Unfortunately, Mr. McGarrett, your passion may be lovely to watch, but I cannot allow you to jeopardize this mission. Too much is riding on this for one man's temporary discomfort to be the end of it. This case will be the culmination of hundreds of agents' life's work. They've given up time with their families and dedicated their lives to stopping this; some have _died_ to bring this to an end, Mr. McGarrett. Their work, as well as Daniel's, _must_ be enough to get a solid conviction; it must!"

Steve doesn't particularly care about "hundreds of agents;" all that matters to him is getting Danny out of that room and away from here, as far from the FBI and those other men as possible. Even from his place on the ground he can see- or at least get the general idea of- what's going on in the room, and he's sick. He doesn't have to hear the whimpers he's sure Danny's making or even have to see his face twisted in pain to know that Danny's suffering.

He hears Kono and Chin speaking to the first man, but he isn't interested in what they're saying. The pain in his arm is growing, and it's becoming difficult to ignore. He can feel it swelling and growing its own heartbeat, throbbing in time with the heart in his chest, but it isn't the discomfort that has him unhappy. He's angry that he's so impotent (loath though he is to use that particular word at the moment). There's an incredibly heavy man sitting on his back, Steve's broken arm isn't strong enough to endure the motions of throwing his captor off, Chin and Kono are off to the side where he can't protect them.

It's emasculating and frustrating, being trapped on the floor like a child or a prisoner, but Steve's angry contemplation of ways to break free comes to a stop when his vision is suddenly filled with Agent Anja's face. It's moved into an odd expression, as though the woman is both pitying him and wary of him.

Somehow, Steve thinks that that's the right expression for the current situation.

"Come to taunt me?" he asks, turning his head away.

"Not at all, Mr. McGarrett. I have a great amount of respect for you, which is why I'm here to try to make you understand why you're being pinned down by Agent Hall, rather than free with the other members of you team."

Steve simply snorts and keeps his head turned away.

Anja's response is only a light sigh at first, but after a few moments, she begins to speak again.

"You don't believe me when I say that I respect you, correct?"

Steve doesn't bother to respond.

"As I thought. I do respect you, though, Lieutenant Commander. Daniel is... very special to me, and I count him as one of the few people whose judgement I take as my own. He sees things that few others are able, and he has the ability to find peaceful resolutions even in the most dire of circumstances, which has saved my life and the lives of others more times than I would care to number. It is Daniel's great love of life and care for those of others- no matter their side- that allows him to do this. He can, however, be harsh with people whom he admires; he wants them to be more perfect than they are."

This catches his attention, so Steve turns back. The look on Anja's face is not smirking as he'd expected, though; she looks solemn, as though she were at a funeral or by the side of someone dying.

"Why are you telling me this?" he asks, uncomfortable with the look on the woman's face.

"I tell you this because you hurt him. Daniel wanted you to be impeachable, to be someone who, though drawn to explosions and drastic measures, still understood the uncrossable line that the law has drawn."

"But I do understand that!"

"Then why did you cross it!" she shouts, her voice rising and accent growing thicker. "If you had any regard for your partner, you never would have put him in such a position! Finding you in a situation that was... compromising as best shook him. Daniel has always, for the years I have known him, venerated the law and the equality it attempts to create. By harming someone who was not to be harmed _and to be found entangled with a woman in the same room,_ you showed Daniel that you do not have any consideration for the basis of who Daniel is! His morality is the very things that make him who he is, and you put him in a place where he had to choose: disregard the law, or turn against someone he cares about."

Her words sting, and Steve doesn't want to hear any more of them. He hadn't known Danny had caught Cath and him, hadn't thought anyone could come close without him noticing, but apparently Danny had. Steve hadn't meant for it to happen. He and Cath were just talking to the guy because he had a sister who'd come back from Iraq in bad shape, and they'd been having a chat, not badgering or anything, just talking to the guy conversationally. For some reason, something their suspect said had upset Cath (and him) and she'd struck him. When he hadn't apologized, things had just gotten out of hand. Steve was used to having someone, somewhere, to pull him back if he went too far, but this time, he didn't have anyone to do that. The next thing he knew, he and Cath's hands were a bit bloody and his knuckles hurt, but that didn't matter because he'd been caught up in trying to get his hands on Cath, adrenaline rushing and the hungry sounds she was making encouraging him forward.

Christ but he hoped Danny had come in then, not afterwards, not... not when he couldn't get it up and Cath just looked at him sadly. Then, it had been an embarrassment at the time, but lately, even before today, it's been a source of shame. Now, knowing that that's what had pushed Danny away, he doesn't think he'll be able remember it without hating himself.

He's lost in thought and self-loathing when Anja speaks again.

"I did not know you were unaware that that was why Daniel left, but I am glad that you know now. Perhaps you will be able to move past this, then."

Surprised, Steve's head jerks up. That isn't something he'd been expecting her to say.

Anja's face is almost soft when she speaks again.

"It's obvious to me that you care for Daniel very much." Steve nods quickly, because, _Yes, yes I do care about Danny, about... Danno._ "That is why you are where you are. If you go to him now, do you think he'll thank you? He's been soiled and used, his body nearly broken, and if you enter the room now, it will all be for nothing. Daniel will have suffered for nothing. You would not have that happen to him, would you, Steven?"

The usage of his first name makes Steve study the face in front of him more deeply. There's something there that wasn't there before. It's something like regret but not quite. He wishes he knew what it is, because maybe it would help him somehow. He doubts that it would, but still... He'd rather have more information about his sort-of-captors.

More striking, however, are her words. Anja's right, and Steve knows it. If he goes to Danny now, if he interrupts what's going on, he'll ruin everything. No matter how much his fingers itch to go to Danny and touch him and make sure he'll be all right, no matter his desire to kick down every wall and door in this place so he can shield Danny from what's happening, he can't. He has to stay here until these FBI agents have enough evidence to make things worth while.

Slowly, Steve nods, and he's rewarded by a bright smile. Anja disappears from his sight, and a few seconds later, the weight on his back disappears, too. The sudden rush of air into his lungs is dizzying, so his attempt to stand almost results in him falling back down, but he's quickly grabbed by two people. Chin and Kono keep their arms wrapped around Steve's arms- Chin carefully avoiding the broken forearm- and back, gently supporting him. He smiles his thanks and is about to ask for some supplies to make a makeshift splint, when he notices Kono passing something to Chin. A moment later, Steve's arm is filled with cold fire so strong it makes him groan, but when he looks down, there's a proper splint on his arm.

"You still have to go the hospital, though, boss," Kono says, her cheer genuine, if subdued.

Chin chuckles lightly, nodding along.

"Malia will have a fit if you don't go to her hospital, and don't think I won't tell her you're injured," he says, familiar smile sliding into place.

If it were any other time and any other place, Steve would probably complain and bicker lightly with them, but he can't escape the memories of all the times Danny dragged him to the hospital, grumbling furiously all the way. Instead of being here with them, though, Danny is alone in a room of deviants whose only goals seem to be hurting him.

A small jolt from the second man and a flicker on the screen catch his attention before Steve can ride too far on that particularly dark train of thought.

"Agent Anja, we've got movement. Target Crow is leaving the room."

"Excellent," says the woman. "Agent Hall, bring in Target Crow, if you would?"

With a nod, the large man exits the room, and everyone's attention is brought to the screens.

Danny is lying on his stomach in the middle of the room, covered in sweat, with a bit of something red which resembles blood far too much for Steve's mind to accept, and something else that's off white and doesn't requite much thought to identify.

The room is still for a while, just Danny on the floor, hardly moving, and the real target on the bed, chest heaving as he pants heavily.

Quickly, however, the stillness is broken, and Steve's world is thrown on its side.

The man on the bed- Target Raven, as Chin quietly tells him- suddenly gets up and goes to Danny, grabs hold of the man's slightly shaking arms and drags him to the bed, onto which he carelessly throws his blonde prize.

He stands there for a few moments, just looking Danny over, while Steve can't help but do the same. Raven's gaze moves over Danny as if he were evaluating something in a street vendor's stall, cold and removed, if intrigued as well.. Steve, however, looks at Danny and sees the partner he'd lost. He sees the scars he'd never known Danny has and new marks all over his light skin; he finds the surprising presence of tattoos on skin he'd always thought was unmarked. Unintentionally, his gaze moves down Danny's body and comes to rest on the man's cock.. Like last time, it's completely soft, but red in places where it seems that Crow grabbed him particularly roughly. His digust moving to the back of his mind for a moment, Steve wonders if Danny's a grower or a shower, since it doesn't look particularly big or small, though it is soft, so there's no way to know. Unless he happens to see get hard, of course...

Steve wishes he could turn his mind off sometimes, and this is one of those times. He tells himself he shouldn't be looking, that he isn't looking between Danny's legs so he can tell the hospital staff where Danny's injred. Practicality isn't the reason he's looking where he is, or why he's wondering the thoughts he has. The thoughts had started springing up once in a while years ago, but the past six months have shown a massive increase in the number of times Steve's mind has called upon Danny when it shouldn't. There had been that one time he and Cath had decided to try something different in the bedroom, but that had ended quickly after Danny's name made an unexpected appearance...

Before Steve can truly hate himself- or risk getting entirely swept up by inapprorpiate thoughts- Raven stops just looking and moves into action. He goes to the bedside table and pulls out... police-type cuffs attached to leather straps, which he then uses to tie Danny up and cuff him to the bed.

"There, that's enough, isn't it? He's got the intent. Can we get Danny now?" Steve asks, a dark feeling stirring his gut.

"Hush!" Anja scolds him. "And no, no, it isn't. We need definitive proof of what he's going to do. Right now, this could be twisted into all sorts of things!"

Steve starts to shift his weight from foot to foot, anxious to go to Danny, but doesn't leave, not wanting to risk making a mess of things. He doesn't want Danny to have suffered for nothing. As the video feed progresses, however, it grows harder and harder to stay in the small room.

It takes a few minutes for Danny to wake up, and when he does, he doesn't seem all there. His eyes don't open all the way, and what little is open, is slightly glazed, as if Danny weren't behind them. His gaze don't focus on anything for long, the blue of his irises shifting awkwardly.

Steve can see him still struggling to get his bearings as Raven. temporarily forgotten, makes his move. He grabs his knife, the one he'd been waving about earlier, and _cuts_ Danny- not too deeply, not so much Danny's life is in danger, but deeply enough to provoke a reaction from the bound man.

Behind the monitors, the room of agents and officers freezes as they try to make sense of what they're seeing. Steve, pushing his own suprise away, gives the unfamiliar people a hard look and decides they aren't putting on a show. None of them had had any indication that Raven had had sadistic inclinnations.

Everyone holds their collective breaths, waiting to see what happens next, frightened of it yet knowing they can't go in yet. A single cut isn't enough to get the man.

Unaware of his audience, Raven sets to his task, sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly, leaving behind trails of blood that mar Danny's skin. It's all done with an odd detachment, his expression almost uncomprehending, but there's a tension behind his blank face. He knows exactly what he's doing.

Engrossed with horror as they are, it takes two things to startle them into action.

First, Agent Hall comes back, Crow in tow.

Second, Raven makes yet another cut, pulling a choked cry from Danny.

The sounds immediately jolt Steve, Anja, Chin and Kono back into the moment.

"Now?" Steve shouts, uninterested in the reply, because he can't stay in the room any longer. He can't watch this happen anymore, not to Danny.

"Now!" Anja shouts at his back, her accent thickening once more.

Chin and Kono follow right behind Steve as he sprints through the halls, sure that Danny and his tormentor will be in the same room as Danny had been the first time Steve had burst in.

The moment he sees the door, still bearing the marks of his first forced entry, Steve speeds up, just barely stopping in time to kick it in, rather than run into it, and from there, everything is the blue of Danny's eyes and the red of his chest.

* * *

Steve wants to be the one holding Danny. He wants to be the one whose arms support him and hold him close, even when he struggles to get free, as he knows Danny will.

He doesn't grab Danny, though. He can't. He can't touch Danny now. It's his fault that Danny's here, and he doesn't count himself worthy to touch him, not that he'll let any of the FBI's people handle him, either. Just because Steve can't touch him doesn't mean he can't follow Danny, though, and he walks only a few strides behind Chin, trying not to crowd him but not wanting to be far from Danny's side, either.

When Danny does start struggling, Chin doesn't panic- which is why Steve had entrusted him with Danny. Chin isn't easily thrown and takes things as they come more easily than most, so when Danny's body starts contorting and arms flail, Chin just pulls Danny in closer, adjusts his grip, and leans close to murmur in his ear. Steve's too far away to hear what Chin's saying, but he knows that it's Hawaiian, most likely one of the countless lullabies the man seems to know.

Danny seems to find them comforting, because his fit comes to an end, though he does still seem worried, his body tense and hands white, and it makes him sick, that Steve can be so useless, his mind frozen at the sight of all that blood to sooth him, when he sees Kono slowly make her way to Danny and press her forehead to his, not saying anything, just letting the man feel that she's there, even if he doesn't know it's her.

As his body slowly loses the tension it's been holding, Danny falls asleep, Kono pressing a small kiss to his skin, then moving away and allowing her cousin to carry their friend to the ambulance, humming lullabies as he goes.

The sight of them taking care of Danny, doing what they can to help calm him, reminds Steve of his guilt. If he hadn't been such an idiot, if he'd realized that he'd messed up and that he wasn't taking care of Danny the way friends should- if he'd given Danny the attention the man required- if only he'd been the kind of friend Danny is... maybe Steve wouldn't be watching his best friend be hooked to a gurney. Maybe, if he hadn't been too proud to call Danny and ask for help, Chin wouldn't be furiously clenching his muscles so hard they tremble and Kono wouldn't have tears rolling down her cheeks as she comes to stand by Steve, letting herself be pulled into the hug he hadn't planned to give.

Maybe if he hadn't been so swept up in the idea of having Cath, the woman he loved, work at Five-0, the people who'd become his family, he wouldn't have wound up breaking it all apart.

Chin joins them after making sure Danny's going to the right hospital, that he'll be treated with the utmost care and that no one will even think about talking about this trip, and puts a hand on his cousin's back. The three of them stand in the parking lot and watch the road long after the ambulance is out of sight. For some reason, it feels more like losing Danny than getting him back.

* * *

Steve sends Chin and Kono home, telling them that they need sleep. The case is broken, Danny is safe and they've more than earned some rest. Despite the looks they send him, which clearly mean, "And you don't?" he gives them the next three days off and tells them he'll be spending his at Danny's side and only after at least twelve hours have passed, will he let them in to see Danny, too. It's selfish and cruel, in part, to keep them from their friend, but Steve isn't ready to share Danny, not even with Chin and Kono.

He's prepared for a fight, but he doesn't get one. The cousins nod reluctantly, Chin wrapping an arm around Kono's shoulders as they walk to her car.

Steve smiles grimly at the sight, glad he hasn't lost everything.

* * *

Two hours, one call to Grace and a fair amount of pushing later, Steve and Grace are sitting in the hospital room with Danny. The doctor who'd seen to Danny had told them the cuts were mostly superficial and would heal well, though there were one or two deeper ones that should be watched. He'd also explained that Danny's rug burn was more severe than anticipated and would need to be treated much the same way they would treat second and third degree burns. Most importantly, there had been severe damage to the inside of Danny's body- descriptions kept as vague as possible, Steve realized, because there was a little girl with him, who didn't need to know the exact nature of her father's injuries.

He'd heard about other injries and the doctor's thoughts on them, but they went over Steve's head. The doctor had said Danny will live. Whatever else will happen, like having to stay in the hospital for an unspecified amount of time to ensure he heals correctly, aren't what Steve cares about. He cares that Danny's going to recover and be back to hi-

Back to Grace. Danny's going to survive and be there for Grace.

Sitting in the plastic chair by Danny's bed, Steve can't find the strength to look at her. He'd more than failed to protect Danny; he'd put him in danger in the first place. He can't be sure of how much Grace must hate him- Rachel, too, because she cares for Danny, even if it's more destructive than healthy- but that's something he doesn't want to contemplate. He just sits in his chair, quietly listening to the beeps of the heart monitor and watches the drips from the IV run into Danny's arm. It's almost peaceful, strangely enough, because Steve usually abhors hospitals and he's sitting one with Danny injured and Grace undoubtedly ready to chew him out for being the one who caused this all, but today, Steve isn't bothered by the hospital.

The sound of shoes squeaking alerts him to Grace's approach, and as she comes to stand before him, he hangs his head, prepared for her wrath.

Instead, Grace takes one of his hands, pulls it off his knee and takes it in hers as she sits where it used to be. It's been years since she was small enough to sit on his lap comfortably, but she does it anyway, sliding back and making sure Steve's arm is slung around her. Satisfied, she snuggles against him, her head just about reaching his neck.

Steve is so thrown by the lack of anger, he forgets he's actually supposed to wrap his arms around her tightly so she doesn't fall off, but he manages to catch her and bring her back before she falls off. He can easily imagine the paternal fury Danny's could work up if Steve were to let Grace get hurt, and those aren't the kinds of imaginings Steve wants his mind to make.

"Uncle Steve?" Grace asks after a while, voice soft.

"Yes, Gracie?"

"It isn't your fault."

"What?" he asks, startled.

"Danno... and why he's here. It's not your fault, and I know you think it is, because Daddy always said you think that whenever someone gets hurt it's your fault, but it isn't. He doesn't think so either."

Steve shakes his head and smiles a sad smile, but before he can attempt to correct her, she starts talking again.

"Every day when I come down for breakfast, I find Danno eating something super healthy, like oatmeal or bran flakes, but he always looks sad. I asked him why once, and he just shook his head and said he just felt sad looking at them, since they aren't real food. When I asked why he didn't go back to his old breakfast, he looked even sadder and said they were something that reminded him of you. Uncle Steve," she says, earnest, "every day after going to work at the mall, Daddy comes home and looks through the album I made, the one full of pictures of you and Uncle Chin and Aunt Kono. He always spends a lot of time looking at the pages with pictures of you and him in your uniforms and surfing. He really misses you!"

Everything Grace says comes out in a rush, and it takes Steve a while for his brain to catch up.

Danny misses him? Why hasn't he said anything? No, that's stupid. Of course he hasn't. Steve had trampled all over something important to him. Why the hell would Danny tell Steve he missed him? But... has he really been eating better just to remind himself of Steve? Is there a chance, then, for Steve to work with Danny again? Can they be partners again? It wouldn't be like it used to be, not at all. Steve would take care of Danny and he'd listen and he wouldn't be flippant about Danny and what he thinks is important. When had Grace made an album, though? He can't remember Danny mentioning it, and surely he would have? He'd always bragged about Grace; there's no way he would've kept this quiet.

Unless... Unless it's something he hadn't wanted to share, if it's something to keep him going.

Maybe Steve really can find a way to convince Danny to come back.

In the meantime, though, he can only watch him sleep while cuddling a bundle of Grace.

"Would you like some music, Uncle Steve? Danno always said he thought best if I played something for him..."

Steve nods, happy Grace wants to share something with him. He doesn't know how Danny could ever refuse her anything. Being with her is a bit bittersweet, though. He loves Grace, he really does; she's a lovely little girl, smart and sensitive, the kind of daughter he's been dreaming of having. At the same time, however, that's the problem. He's been dreaming of having a girl like her, which hurts because he doesn't actually want a daughter _like_ her, does he? There are nights when his mind blurs reality with Steve's desires, so he sees Grace and thinks she's his. They're the same nights he dreams that Danny and he are in love and live together with Grace and another little girl and a tiny, baby boy.

Cath had heard him talking in his sleep once and figured out what had been happening. They hadn't had sex for three weeks and he'd had to sleep on the floor, because they'd broken the couch during one of their fights.

It's nice, though, to take comfort in the softness of Grace and the way he can hold her entirely real body close.

An earbuds poke into his vision, because while Steve's been daydreaming, Grace has been searching her pockets for her music player- a cheap one that's been well-maintained, Steve notes. He guesses Danny had been set against anything as expensive as an iPod but hadn't wanted to leave Grace- who gets carsick on long car rides, Steve had discovered- without something so she could listen to music.

She turns it on- one bud in her ear, the other in Steve's- casts a concerned glance at her father, then snuggles closer to Steve, clutching his smelly shirt like a baby grasping a parent's finger. It isn't much longer before she falls asleep, her music still playing, and Steve decides to leave it on, curious to hear what sort of music Grace likes and wondering if Danny approves.

Only a few tracks later, Steve comes across one that floors him and makes him shiver; it's eerily similar to his current feelings for Danny. He wonders if Danny's heard it and thought of him, if it's a song Grace likes beacause Danny likes it.

 

_Ten thousand cars, ten thousand trains_   
_There are ten thousand roads to run away_

_  
_

_But if I be wrong, if I be right_   
_Let me be here with you tonight_

_And what if I can't? What if I can?_   
_What if I'm just an ordinary man?_

_If I be wrong, if I be right_   
_Let me stay here in your arms tonight_   
_And I have been wrong; I have been right_   
_I have been both these things all in the same night._

Steve unconsciously grips Grace more tightly, pulling her as close to his chest as possible as he lets the woman's rich voice wash over him and lull him to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I thought it would be Steve carrying Danny, too, until my mind said, "Oh, no! Listen here, lady. That is too obvious and too easy, not to mention that's who/what the readers will want. Take my advice- and by that, I'm telling you what you're going to do- and make it Chin and Kono. You really think that Steve, all shaken up, is going to just grab hold of Danny? Woman, please."
> 
> The first song is _[If I Be Wrong](http://www.songlyrics.com/wolf-larsen/if-i-be-wrong-lyrics/)_ by [Wolf Larsen](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxzG3MyCLic).


End file.
